NOSTRADAMUS, A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

    Nostradamus' greatest influence came from his two grandfathers, both were doctors and teachers of the kabala. They passed this forbidden knowledge of the kabala on to the boy along with a vast knowledge of classical literature, history, medicine, astrology and herbal folk medicine.

    The two grandfathers were clairvoyant themselves, a gift that Nostradamus obviously inherited and that the grandfathers secretly encouraged. Nostradamus learned as a child that he was decended from a long line of clairvoyants reinfornced by his deep knowledge of astrology.

    His secretary, Jean-Aymes de Chavigny, once described the adult Nostradamus as "...a little under medium height, robust, nimble and vigorous. He had a straight nose and grey eyes which were usually pleasant but which blazed when he was angry. His cheeks were red, even in his old age, and his beard was long and thick. He was lively and inquiring mind and a remarkable memory. He spoke little, but thought a great deal. He slept only four or five hours a night."

    According to Nostradamus author John Hogue (Nostradamus and the Millennium (Doubleday and Co., 1987): His healing skills saved thousands of lives.

    Some psychic investigators believe that Nostradamus acquired his healing skills from his visions of the future, in which he saw advanced methods of sanitation and medicine. For example, in one quatrain Nostradamus mentions Louis Pasteur by name, four centuries before the scientist's birth - revelation that has silenced many Nostradamus skeptics, except James Randi, of course.

    Nostradamus also prescribed special "rose pills" for plague victims. These can be found in his book, The Exliers of Nostradamus.